Nov 15 2008
Airport Malaria: The buzzzzzzz
Malaria is a parasitic infection whose symptoms include fever, chills and sweating that recur every 2-3 days. The disease is transmitted by Anopheles mosquito.
The first case of locally contracted malaria on Long Island was in 1999 when two 11 year old boys caught the disease from mosquitoes while at a summer camp in Calverton. They had stayed at the Baiting Hollow Boy Scout Camp from 1-7 August 1999.
It is extremely rare for malaria to be contracted within the US. But it has been on an increase due to ‘Airport’ malaria.
What is ‘Airport’ malaria? It is transmitted when a mosquito infected with the disease bites a human within a kilometer of an international airport.
The two important factors to keep in mind are:
#1 Increasing international travel
#2 Climate pattern changes
The above reasons have led the US to be a more stable ecosystem for disease carrying insects.
Warmed climate changes in major US cities with a large presence of international air traffic, such as New York, seem to have created a favorable environment where these infected mosquitoes can survive.
It starts with a mosquito that is transported during an international flight from a malaria-endemic region. Once the infected female mosquito leaves the aircraft, it can survive long enough to seek blood meals ad transmit the disease to other humans within the airport.
Prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of patients with malaria and draining stagnant water bodies are the only ways out.
